Ornamentation of surface covering materials



Aug. 23, 1932.

J c. MccARTHY 1,873,000

ORNAMENTATIO 0F SURFACE COVERING MATERIALS Filed Dec. `5, 192e v INVENTOR Patented Aug. 23, 1932 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE J CLARENCE MCCARTHY, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY,- OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA ORNAMENTATION F SURFACE COVERING MATERIALS Application filed December This invention relates to the ornamentation of hard surface covering materials, and particularly to a new type of decoration for such materials' and a method of securing novel decorative effects.

Hard surface covering materials having an` applied decoration have heretofore ordinarily been decorated by a process of printing. According to the present invention the novel decorative effects are secured by air brushing methods, the decorative coating being comprised of either quick drying lacquers or slow drying oil paints, depending on the type of decorative eect which is desired.

In addition to this, the present invention contemplates the use of additional devices of ornamentation by means of which the unbroken or spotted effects produced by air brushing methods are relieved and the decorative effects secured, and a type of ornamentation secured which is in marked contrast to the decorations at present obtained in hard surface covering materials, particularly covering materials of the linoleum or felt base type.

The invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating certain apparatus which isv preferably employed in producing the ornamental effects comprising the present invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view representing in a conventional manner` the appearance of the goods after having been decorated bythe apparatus shown in Figure 1,` y

Figure 3 represents the goods shown in Figure 2 after it has been'y decorated further to relieve or partially conceal the spotted effect,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing another manner of rrelieving the spotted effect,

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are conventional illustratioiis of still further modifications of the invention.

In carrying out the invention, the goods is first given a base lcoating of a decorative nature. In Figure l, 2 designates a strip of covering material moving beneath a coating roll unit 3, by means of which an all-over base 5, 192s. serial No. 323,904.

an inherent decorative value, as in the case of f ay ranite or jasp linoleum, the application of A a ase coat by the coating roll unit 3 need not v be edected.

If the coating roll unit 3 applies a lacquer coating or an ink decoration, or a quick drying metallic paint, little time need elapse between the application yof the base coating and l the further decoration as hereinafter described. If, however, the coating roll unit 3 appliesa slow drying oil aint as a base coating, provision should pre erably be made for stoving the material before the goods is frther decorated'.

After the application of the decorative base coating by the coating unit 3 wheresuch a coating is required, the goods passes a battery of spray guns or air brushes 4. The. air brushes are arranged forintermittent actua- -tion, and different air brushes will apply different colors of paint, lacquer or other coating material over the decorative base. The

adjustment of the spray guns with referlustrated an electromagnet at 5 on each of'v the air brushes for actuating the' valve of the brush in a manner which will be readily understood by those familiar with the operation of air brushes. Each magnet has oneI side thereof connected to a source of electric current 6 through a wire 7. There is a se-r lector mechanism connecting the other sides of the electromagnets with the source of cur-4 rent 6. In Figure 1 I have shown this selector mechanism as'comprising a rotatable drum 8 yhaving a roll of insulating material 9 on the periphery thereof, and this insulating matev rial is perforated as indicated at 10.

A series of brushes 11 bear against. the periphery of the drum and when a gwen perforation passes under a given brush 11, a circuit is closed through a predetermined electromagnet 5, or a predetermined group of electromagnets, depending on the number of guns employed and the pattern effectbeing sought. By providing interchangeable perforated bands 9 on the drum 8, varied sequences in the control of the electromagnets can be obtained.

As the goods 2 passes under the battery of air brushes s, ots of different coloring or differently sha ed spots are appliedthereto over the base decoration of the goods. This is shown in Figure 2, Where the spots are indicated as having a sharp outline. As a matter of fact, the spots which are produced have fringed edges Which merge together or merge into the background. Nevertheless, a spotted eect is quite apparent, especially Where there is a marked contrast in colors. The spotted effect under some conditions may be desired, but generally speaking, the different spots stand out so sharply that the decorative value is considerably impaired, the eyes readily perceiving the contour of the spots.

Some relief is provided bythe fact that the spots insteadof being of uniform size are preferably of non-uniform size, as shown in Figure 2. The size of the spots is determined by the length of the perforations in the band 9 on the drum 8, the speed ofrotation of the drum, the speed of travel of the\ goods 2, the adjustment of the sprayof the gun, the proximity of the gun to the surface of the goods,'and the angle of the gun With reference to the direction of travel of the goods.

The spots, which are designated 12 in Figure 2, may be either opaque or transparent. They can be formed by a coating material of either an oil base or a Vnitro-cellulose basel With a pigment Which renders them opaque, or can be in the nature of a dyed lacquer or varnish which' is transparent. For instance, Where the base decorative coat applied by the unit 3 is of a metallic paint, such as gold or aluminum, or is in the nature of a Benday, it is especially desirableto form the spots 12 of a transparent lacquer or varnish dyed to the desired tint or color. The effect of the metal paint shining through the transparent colored lacquer or varnish produces a novel ornamental effect of a very striking character.

To relieve the very apparent spotted effect and lead the eye away from the contour of the spots, other types of decoration are combined With the air brushing decoration.

1 In Figure 3, one such combination lis conventionally illustrated. The entire area of ranged, They may be formed byI an Ordicoating material and passing the goods under a doctor blade, which removes most of the liquid coating material from the tile areas .l

but does not remove the coating material from the depressions or lines.

Such a process is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 37 7 ,383, filed July 11, 1929. After passing under the doctor blade there is a thin veil coat over the surface of the tile areas, through Which the colors of the spots and the background show With reduced intensity, producing an antiquated tile effect. The coating material which remains in the depressions dries in the depressions and forms an opaque interliner, corresponding to the lines 13.

Instead of relieving the outline of the spots by breaking the surface of the goods with the markings 13 into a tile pattern, either with or Without the veil coating, a grid Work of very fine lines closely spaced can be laid over the entire surface of the goods, as shown in Figure 4, and printed patterns or other devices of ornamentation may be formed over the goods at spaced intervals by interrupting this grid Work and forming the devices by printing or by any other suitable method of decoration. In Figure 4 the spots are designated l2, and the grid Work of fine lines is designated 14. The opaque patterns or decorations are designated 15. Work laid over the spotted backgroundvbreaks up and relieves the contour o'f the spots, While the patterns 15 break up and relieve the plainness of the grid Work. Instead of the patterns 15 being formed as an applied decorationthe lines of the grid may be broken to produce a pattern effect and relieve the plainness of the grid decoration.

In Figure 5 there is shown stilll another type of decorationwherein the surface of the goods, after having the spots produced thereon, is covered With small spots or speckles which produce an attractive type of decoration and at the same time conceal and relieve the contour of the large spots 12. This spatter effect c-an be secured by the use of an air gun adjusted to apply the paint in small pattern. This indenting or embossing is distmguished from the type of decoration shown in Figure 3, in` that the embossing is of a c lose nature and produces. no sharp tile outline. For the purpose of illustration, the

The grid.

Figure 7 illustrates a decorationwhich is i procured by combining the spotting of different colors with a step of masked printing, masked printing being the subject of my copending application Serial No. 308,207, iiled Sept. 25, 1928.r According to this embodiment of the invention, the base coat of the color indicated at 17 is first applied by the printing roll unit 3 or by any other suitable arrangement. A pattern, preferably of definite outline, such as the flowers shown at 17 is then printed on the goods in a material which will readily wash off the surface of the goods, and which is termed a masking material. l

The goods is then passed under the battery of spray guns which covers the entire background, including the masking material, and the spots 12 are produced. The goods are then scrubbed. This washes off the masking material without disturbing the paint or lacquer or any other part of the goods. Where the masking material has been washed off, the original base coating shows through, producing the contrasting pattern 17 shown in Figure 7.

Particularly striking effects can be secured with this process where the base coat comprises a metal paint such as gold or aluminum, and the entire area of the goods is covered with spots of transparent dyed lacquers, the entire area of the goods being covered with the dyed lacquers, except the masking pattern.

According to the present invention it will therefore be seen that a novel type of air brush decoration can be applied to hard surface covering materials toproduce tinted and blended color effects, while the plainness of the color areas and the spotted effect thereof can be relieved by combining therewith some other definite 'type of ornamentation. In this way, while the novel appearance of the goods and the printing of the different color areas really produce the novel decorative effects of the material, this coloring is really made secondary to the more prominent decoration which conceals the outline of the color areas and leads the eye away from the contour of such color areas.

For instance, well known tile patterns can be given an entirely new ornamental appearance by reason of the present invention and yet the goods still appears to the observer as being a tile decoration, and is not viewed as an area covered with patches of color of definite contour.

As a final step in the process, a wear resisting coating of transparent lacquer or varnish is preferably applied over the surface of the goods in order, to protect the spots and the pattern from immediate wear, and by renewing this coating from time to time the attractive appearance of the goods can be '7 maintained.

It will be understood that I have described certain specific embodiments of the invention, but the invention is not confined to the particular embodiments illustrated. Furthermore, the invention is not limited to the use of any particular apparatus, as the printing roll unit 3 can be replaced by any other suitable coating means, and the air brushes or similar devices .might be controlled manually or in any other fashion. In the drawing, the inventionhas been illustrated conventionally, as it is not possible to bring out in a plan drawing the contrasting and merging color eects which are characteristic and novel in the present invention.

I claim:

l. The method of decorating a flexible hard surface covering material of the linoleum type which comprises first applying an all-over decorative base to the hardsurface of the goods,n and thereafter applying spots of coating material of different color characteristics over the greater portion of the area of the goods by spraying, said spots partially merging into other spots and into the base coat, and applying further decoration of such character as to break up the contour of the spots.

2. The methods of decorating a flexible hard surface covering material of the linoleum type which comprise the steps of forming relatively large spots of different color areas over the hard surface of the goods by spraying, and applying another type of decoration having no relation to the contour of the spots for leading the eye away from the contour of the spots.

3l The method of decorating hard surface covering material which consists in applying-a decorative base coating to the hard surface of the goods, thereafter forming patches of irregular size and contour over the base coat by spraying, said patches partially merging into other patches and into the base coat, and forming an embossed pattern over the surface of the goods.

4. The method of decorating a hard surface covering material which comprises forming a decorative base over the hard surface of a piece of goods, thereafter applying patches ofmcontrasting color characteristics over the greater portion of the area of the goods by spraying, embossing a pattern in the goods and applying color to the embossed portions.

5. The method of decorating hard surface covering materials which comprises forming an all-over base decoration on the hard surface of the goods, partially covering the base decoration with relatively large spots of contrasting color characteristics and irregular size and disposition by spraying, embossing the surface of the goods with a pattern bearing no relation to the contour of the spots, and applying an opaque color in the recesses formed by the embossing step to produce lines which lead the eye away from the contour of the spots. f

6. The method of decorating a flexible hard surface covering material of the linoleum type which comprises applying an allover ornamental base coat to the hard surface of the goods, thereafter producing spots of relatively large size over the surface of the goods by spraying, said spots leaving some of the base coat uncovered, and concealing the contour of the spots by applying a decoration produced by a step of printing.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard surface covering of the linoleum type having an all-over base decoration partly covered by irregular spots of coating material of different shade or .color and of a character producible by air brushes, and havlng another decoration applied thereover partially concealing and relieving the contour of the spots.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a ilexible hard-surface covering of the linoleum type having an ornamental base with irregu` lar spots of contrasting color characteristics applied over the base with a haphazard appearance and only partially covering the base, said spots being of a character producible by air brushing and having fringed contours which merge into one another and into the base, and a decoration having a definite pattern therein which partially conceals and relieves the contnggof the spots.

9. As a new artlcle of manufacture, a ilexible hard-surface covering of the linoleum type having an applied decorative base coating over 'its entire area, and' having spots over the greater portion of the base coating, said spots being of varying color characteristics and being of irregular size and contour, the spots being of a character producible by air brushing.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard-surface covering of the linoleum type having an applied decorative base coating over its entire area, and having spots over the greater portion of the base coating, said spots being of varying color characteristics and being of irregular sizeI and con'- vtour, the spots being of a character producible by air brushing, and an applied decoration over the s ots .of definite contour` and serving to brea up and relieve the spotv ted appearance of the goods.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a ilexible hard surface covering of the linoleum type having an ornamental base coat over its entire surface formed of a metallic coating material, colored transparent spots over the base coat, said spots being of different colors and being formed by air brushing.

12. As a new'article of manufacture, an ornamented surface covering having an ornamental base coat over its entire surface formed of a metallic coating material, colored transparent spots over the base coa-t, said spots being of different colors and being formed by air brushing, and a pattern of definite contour on the goods serving to conceal or relieve the outline of the colored spots.

13. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard surface covering of the linoleum type having a base coat, spots of different color characteristics and of irregular size and contour haphazardly disposed over the base coat and only partially concealing the base coat, said spots being of a character proyducible by air brushing, and a transparent ducible by air brushing, an applied pattern' on the goods relieving the contour of the spots and having no relation to the contour of the spots, and a transparent wear resisting coatin over the surface of the goods.

15. s a new article of manufacture, an ornamented covering material having a base coat over the surface thereof executed in a lmetallic `coating material, spots of transparent coating material applied over the base, said spots being of different colors and being of the irregular size and character producible by air brushing, and an all-over wear resisting coating applied over the spots, said-wear resisting coating being transparent.

16. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard-surfaced' floor covering of the linoleum type having a decorative base coat with overlying-spots of color which shade olf at their edges and are of uncertain definition, said spots covering a portion only of the base. 17. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard-surfaced floor covering of the linoleum type having a decorative base coat with overlying spots of color which shade olf at their edges and are of uncertain definition, said spots covering a portion only of the base,

lll

the spots being executed in various shades or overlying spots of color which shade olf at their edges and are of uncertain definition, said spots covering a portion only of the base,

and a relatively sharply defined decoration.

over a portion of the goods, the spots of color and the base showing between.

19. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard-surfaced ioor covering of the linoleurn type havinga decorative surface with overlying spots which shade oii' at their edges and are of uncertain defini-tion, said spots covering a portion only of the surface.

20. As a new article of'manufacture, a flexible hard-surfaced floor covering of the linoleum type having a decorative surface with overlying spots which shade off at their edges and are of uncertain definition, said spots covering a portion only of the surface, and relatively sharply defined decorations over portions of the goods, the spots and the decorative base showing between.

21. As a new article of manufacture, a ilexible hard-surfaced floor covering of the linoleuni type having a decorative base coat with overlying spots of color andof varying size and shape, which spots shade oft' at their edges and are of uncertain definition, the spots covering a portion only of the base.

22. As anew article of manufacture, a iexible hard-surfaced floor covering of the linoleum type having a base coat with overlying spots of color, which spots are of varying size and which, while preserving their identity as spots, have fringed edges which merge into the base.

23. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard-surfaced iioor covering of the linoleum type having a base coat with overlying spots of color, which spots are of varying size and which, while preserving their identity as spots, have fringed edges which merge into the base and into one another.

24. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible hard-surfaced ioor covering of the linoleum type having a base with overlying spots whose margins are of uncertain definition, the

several identity of the spots being neverthev less retained, and an overlying relatively sharply defined pattern having no relation to the spot pattern.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. l J CLARENCE MGGARTHY. 

